Oni's and Humans
by starfield75
Summary: the prequel before the Gang. Follow Soot, Rain, Petal, Flower, Stone and Fang as they struggle to find their places in the world and to prove that Oni's and Humans can really cohabit.
1. Prologue

Ark: On stranger tides

Title:Good Bye

Series: Heroes of the war

Other works: The Gang, Oni's and Human's, Snippets

Date: November 23, 2011

GOOD BYE

Noon

"Hallo Capt's, I hope I wasn't interrupting you're lunch. I just had mine, I know it's been a while since I last dropped in but I've been really busy, I got myself a pup her name is Rhea, a real cutie. I finally got my captain's rank not like I'm planning to replace you, because you're still my only captain, no matter what rank I am. Everyone doing fine I suppose, there all growing up, though I think we lost something when you left. We've continued training as a group and I suppose we're finally a gang but everyone misses you it's just not the same when you're not here, go figure. Well I got a pup to train so I'll let you get back to your lunch. See ya some other time Captain".

Rain

Good night

"Yo, Captain, nice evening it is tonight, doncha think? I hope you're having a nice dinner Saggis and I are out tree climbing, you remember when you used to drag me out and I'd wail and complain and call you names 'cause I was missing dinner. well times change I suppose, now you're probably having a nice dinner and I'm butting in. well anyway things are going well, the gangs doing okay, Fang's as grumpy as ever, Rain as uptight, Petal as annoying, Flower as bossy and Stone as peacekeeping as they always were. Well that isn't really true where not the same ever since you left we've matured, what used to drive us crazy now makes us laugh and cry. Yeah, I admit it when you left I bawled like a big baby, but so did everyone else. Well I gotta get back to little Saggis (my apprentice) you know the little cat you gave us well turns out he's a were-cat I sorta named him after you, sorry . I hope you don't mind but he really is you're spitting image but a whole lot sweeter. Well any way I leave you alone now, good night Captain".

Soot

Good morning

"Hey, Captain, sorry for waking you up at the crack of dawn but I wanted to say hey and the hunts about to start. Do you remember when you'd drag us out of bed at the crack of dawn, tell us to shut up at night and to hurry up and eat at noon. Since you've left we don't talk as much as we used too, it's strange how much we've changed I suppose it's cause where older and we've matured but I think it also because you're not here anymore to be the adult so we had to grow up. Rain's the new captain with Soot, Flower, Petal and Stone as his vicers, I'm the alpha of the Pack and Stone is my beta, I'm also training a puppy named Moon, she reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger, I guess karma has it's way of getting back. You always said it'd come back and bite us in the buts. Well you were correct I guess, I suppose I'll let you go back to sleep now the hunts starting".

Fang

Lunch

"Hallo Captain, it's noon again and I'm out howling at the sun, I hope you're doing well enjoying you're peaceful lunch with no puppy chomping on your tail (Keira get off!) yeah, that's Keira my apprentice I'm training her as best I can but I swear I wasn't this bad at her age, alright I'll stop whining if you stop laughing, everyone doing fine but we really miss you, it's no fun now that you've left, it was so much better when you were here, don't get me wrong Rain's a good captain but he's not you, when you left everything shattered, our life exploded and everything disappeared, so really since that day we've been doing a whole lot better, but it'll never be the same as it once was, we really miss you Captain and we do truly need you, but I suppose you'd just roll your eyes, say stop whining and walk away. So I'll do just that I'll take care of my 'prentice but I'll never forget who trained me. Have a good afternoon Captain".

Stone

Good evening

"Hello Captain, hope you're evening going well the sunsets beautiful today, the colors remind me of the of those lazy afternoons that the group of us used to spend on the roof top of the old dorms. Those were the days, we don't do it much anymore pity, don't worry where still friends even better then we where before but without you it's just not the same. We really miss you, but on a brighter side everyone doings well and so on, I got myself an apprentice her name is Jasmine and she has no clue why I'm talking to the setting sun. Funny how you're habits rubbed off on us. Well there's nothing to report so I'll leave you to your dinner now. See ya later Capt's".

Petal

Bed time

"Oy! Bed time stop talking the lot of you and get to bed!" "Do you remember Captain, how much fun we had together, how you made even grumpy Fang laugh to his heart's content, you'd send us rolling to the floor in one of those giant tail sweeps of yours and we'd stare up at you, sprawled out on our stomachs waiting for the day's lessons. You were always there when we needed you, so how come you had to leave, it's not fair but I'm not here too rant at you I just wanted to say that you're being missed but were moving on were not the puppies you left behind were young warriors and ranked officers, but thinking about you still makes me cry. So I'll say good night Captain".

Flower

Noon, Good night, Dawn, Lunch, good evening and Bed time, 6 times of the day, 6 moments, 6 voices, 6 good byes, 1 circle. The original Gang say good bye to mentor, hero, savior, trainer, father and Captain, Sagiistarius.


	2. Introductions

Ark: On stranger tides

Title: Oni's and Humans

Series: Heroes of the war

Other works: The Gang, Good bye

Date: November 23, 2011

AN: "normal talk"

"_mind talk"_

" **yelling"**

" _**yelling in mind talk"**_

disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, I just like to play with it

**Chapter 1: Introductions**

"From this day onwards till the day of you're graduation you will be my apprentices and pages. You will do everything I tell you, am I clear?" The speaker was a young man probably no more then 20, he was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt with his long brown hair pulled up in a ponytail reaching the middle of his back. He was speaking to 6 children, no more then 8 years old. "The lot of you have been handpicked for this special mission because of your different pasts and skills. A group like this has never been formed before, so I would like you lot to prove it possible. Now introduce yourself! I'll start my names Sagittarius." The children glanced at each other and remained silent. "You there, start!" he pointed at a small a black haired boy sitting under a cherry tree who jumped slightly at being called before straitening up with a slight glower. "Ya you", Saggis ordered, "stand up".

He stood up from where he'd been sitting under the cherry tree and announced "my name's Rain; I'm 7 years old and like martial arts". He was dressed in a long black cloak, and a pair of black shorts. His spiky black hair darted all over and curled around his ears, his eyes were amber and he had really pale skin. He sat down again, while the brown haired teen nodded. "Next" the team leader ordered jerking his thumb at a boy sitting directly above Rain. Silence. The brown haired leader who'd already introduced himself as Sagittarius ticked and hollered: "you the boy in the tree, introduce yourself"! Still no reaction, Sagittarius bounded forward and in less than 3 seconds had scaled the tree, the insolent boy found himself on the ground, or almost. At the last second he flipped turned into a cat and launched himself into Rain's outstretched arms, paws barely brushing the ground. The kitten scrambled up to Rain's shoulder and curling around his neck promptly yawned and closed his eyes. Saggis jumped out of the tree and stalked over to Rain, "were-cat?" he asked. Rain looked slightly guilty but did not answer simply reached up and pulled the black kitten into his arms, hunching over protectively. Saggis sighed and "asked again is he a human who takes the form of a cat to protect himself or a cat who takes the form of a human to play with you. In other words" Saggis continued watching the narrowing of Rain's eyes, "is he a pet or something more?" Rain twitched and snarled "Soot ain't my pet, he's my twin"! "Ah…! I see" Sagittarius smirked and Rain paled realizing his mistake, well even more then he already was.

Sagittarius snickered and ordered; "tell him to take up his human form and introduce himself". Rain sighed unhappily but set the reluctant kitten on the ground muttering "go on, Soot, he won't kill ya". The cat made a sound that sounded like a groan and resumed human form. "You really are twins", Saggis remarqued inspecting them. Soot and Rain looked like two drops of rain, but Soot had a lot more color to his face and his eyes were mischievous. Both were glowering at him with sulky amber eyes and they both wore black. The were-cat straightened his shoulders and declared "my name's Soot, I'm Rainey here's twin" and he lifted his head defiantly before adding "I'm a Were-cat".

"Next" Sagittarius, ordered, he spun around searching for his next victim, over in the shadows of a fallen trunk a black wolf was stretched out with a gray haired boy sitting next to him. Both of them were fixing him with a deep stare, though one had yellow eyes and the other blue eyes. Saggis smiled and said "you there with the gray hair, your turn". The boy without glancing away and while scratching behind the wolf's ears answered "my name's Stone, I'm 8." "And who's the wolf" Sagittarius asked politely, the wolf lifted his head and answered through mind talk "_my name's Fang_". "Do you have a human form"? Saggis asked doubting that The others had heard except for Soot and maybe Stone. Fang glared at him and turned into a small black haired boy with sharp blue eyes. He stood up and with a scathing look on his face repeated "my names Fang; I'm 8 and I'm a Wolf, any problems"? None of the other children dared answer, but Soot's glare deepened and Stone looked like he wanted to laugh. Fang sent them a last look and returned to his original form, that of black wolf cub. He lay back down and Stone wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

Saggis turned towards the two remaining children, sitting together in the grass. Humans his nose told him. "Well"? he asked gently, "who's next", he could smell there fear so there was no point in being mean. The one closest to him stood up hesitantly, shifting nervously from foot to foot, she announced "my name's Petal", her purple hair swung side to side as she moved, brushing her lower back. She wore a long white shirt and a ragged jacket, clearly having seen better days. "I'm 7 years old" she added and nudged the girl next to her, who peering up through her blue bangs announced "I'm Flower and I'm 8".

"Good" Saggis said walking back towards the middle of the clearing "now I'm going to test your memories and basic knowledge. Make yourself comfortable". The 6 children spread out in a semi-circle around him Saggis sat down and Rain flopped down directly in front of him, lying on his stomach, while Soot switched to cat form and curled around his neck. Petal and Flower sat down to his right, looking nervous while Fang sprawled on his side some distance away and to the left of Rain, his back to Saggis. Stone chose to use Fang's furry stomach as a pillow and watched the brown haired teen warily. Alright", the boss decided "here's how were going to do this I'm going to ask you bunch of completely random questions and you're going to answer to the best of your abilities, who wants to start"? Petal hesitantly raised a hand, and Saggis nodded at her, before asking "what's 26+26"? Petal blinked, hesitated as her young mind ran through possible numbers before hazarding "50"? Saggis shook his head slightly and pointed at Flower who announced "52"! "Where are we" ? Saggis retorted, she must have hesitated a second too long because Soot piped up, _"near Konoha"_! Saggis arched an eyebrow and Rain said " near Konoha". The adult made a mental note that Rain could hear mind talk.

Saggis nodded and asked, "what's my name"? "Saggisttarius"! Stone answered, "who here is human"? "Petal and Flower", Rain said after thinking for a second. "What am I" Saggisttarius asked, _"an Oni captain"_ Fang said in a bored tone of voice once again through mind talk. Saggis spun towards him surprised and asked, "detail"? Fang lifted his apparently heavy head and answered, _"you stink of Demon's and you're not scared of Kitty, Stone and me, so therefore you're not human"_. "I see" Saggis said, "so what am I then sir wolf" out of the corner of his eye he saw the girls watching puzzled, he made another not to explain it to them later. _"Wait a sec"_, Soot interrupted sleepily _"who'd ya call a Kitty"_! Fang looked bored and drawled out _"you"_, as Stone rolled over him so that he was standing between the two boys. Soot, apparently not seeing Stone as Fang went _"here Kitty, kitty"_, roared and launched himself forward.

Landing in front of Fang, he slashed out spitting, but the latter promptly sat up and sent him flying across the clearing with a well aimed paw. That might have been the end of young Soot, if his twin had not anticipated this and caught him. Fang snorted disgustedly and lay back down, Soot was about to attack again when Saggis ordered "enough! If you want to fight do it in your human forms"! Soot didn't hesitate and returned to his other form; Fang simply yawned and did not react. That was until Soot literally bowled into and over him hitting the ground behind, shocked the were-cat sat up shaking and rubbing at his head. Scrambling up to his feet, he turned slightly red when he realized everyone minus the Captain and Rain was laughing at him. Well the captain was smirking and he announced in that clear voice of his, "nice one Stone". Soot gaped in outrage at the gray haired boy and turning towards his brother demanded "Rainey, explain"! The latter obediently informed him that while he'd been racing blindly towards Fang, Stone had shot out his foot and waited, "therefore when you hit his foot you tripped and instead of slamming into Fang you flipped over him. Very intelligent that kid is".

Soot spun slowly back towards Stone a deadly look in his amber eyes, who instantly backed away holding up his hands in feigned innocence and trying not to laugh. Soot exploded, he charged Stone who promptly bounded away in a taunting sort of way, and Rain swore he could almost see a waving tail. He shifted slightly on the balls of his feet, his protective older brother side telling him to help Soot. Saggis must have noticed his wanting to join in, because he leaned down and whispered in his ear, "go on". Rain leaped foreword, disappeared and reappeared right in front of Stone, who balked and backpedaled just in time leaping to the side.

Rain took off after him, diving into his legs, Stone stumbled and went down. Soot saw his chance and leaped forward intending to crush his opponent but that plan was ruined when a black haired boy body-tackled him in mid air, effectively knocking him to the ground. A brawl soon followed while Saggis and the two girls watched, the teenager spun towards them and asked "well, aren't you going to interfere"? Petal blinked up at him clearly surprised before shaking her head with a gentle laugh, Flower on the other hand frowned pensively at the fight and seeing its violence said "no". Saggis shrugged and spun back towards the boys, hollering alright, "Break it up, break it up"! The four boys fell apart panting and scrambled up to their feet. Soot was glaring at the two wolves, while Fang smirked at him, Stone sent a smile to Rain and said quietly "nice spar"; Rain nodded back clearly impressed with their skill. Saggis watching them nodded approvingly, they had basic skill, which is what he'd wanted to test out.

All four boys were scratched and bruised but otherwise seemed fine, Saggis couldn't help but feel impressed but he asked anyway "any wounds". The boys all shook their heads no, glancing over at each other curiously. "Alright then" Saggis announced "here's the plan, we've got a couple of hours of daylight left, so I'm going to go catch dinner, you lot are going to head back to your bases and tend to your wounds before gathering up your stuff and meeting me here. We'll have dinner and then I'll bring you to my Dorm. I want you back here in exactly 2 hours. Am I clear?" The 6 children nodded and their new Captain announced "alright, then, get"! They scattered in three different directions.

Rain ran skidding on the leaves, jumping logs and dodging branches, in the treetops above, Soot did the same. Reaching the edge of the forest they slowed down and peered out, Soot dropped onto Rain's shoulders before jumping down and resuming human form. The two children peered out at the busy town and Rain spat disgustedly, "Konoha".

…TBC…

In the next chapter, _Fang blinked his eyes trying to stay conscious but the pain was quickly __overpowering him, he was considering changing forms when the flow pulled him away from the boulder. Naturally Fang blacked out. _


	3. Arrival

Ark: On stranger tides

Title: Oni's and Humans

Series: Heroes of the war

Other works: The Gang, Good bye

Date: November 23, 2011 to March 13, 2012

AN: "normal talk"

"_mind talk"_

" **yelling"**

" _**yelling in mind talk"**_

disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, I just like to play with it

Chapter2: Arrival

recap: _Rain ran skidding on the leaves, jumping logs and dodging branches, in the treetops above, Soot did the same. Reaching the edge of the forest they slowed down and peered out, Soot dropped onto Rain's shoulders before jumping down and resuming human form. The two children peered out at the busy town and Rain spat disgustedly, "Konoha"._

From the edge of the forest where they crouched, the twins peered out nervously, "we could just cross normally"; Soot muttered in his brothers ear. "No" Rain snapped, he thought for a second then pulled his brother back into the shadows, "here's what were gonna do". Soot looked at him curiously and Rain took a deep breath and told him, "you take your cat form and go to the mine; I'll run around the side and meet you there". "Why can't I ride with ya", Soot protested "it'd be safer and funnier"? Rain frowned at him and snapped "in case this mission fails, I want a place to come back to that no one knows about". Soot nodded slightly, spun on his heels, transformed and darted out towards the town. Rain watched him worriedly for a second, before closing his eyes and concentrating. For a 7 year old he had a lot of experience using his powers. Slowly the little boy faded from view, which is probably a good thing, because if anyone could have seen him they would have noticed his red eyes and fanged teeth.

Invisibility set, the young prodigy set off, racing around the edge of the buildings along paths that only he could see. In the meanwhile, Soot was racing over the buildings, jumping down only when he had too. Reaching the edge of the town, he jumped down and headed for an old log building backed up against a tall cliff. Turning back to his other form he crawled through the ground level window, after carefully extracting the glass pane. Putting it back in after him he ran through the house and reached the back door, built into the stone cliff. There was an old lock hanging on it, Soot fiddled with it for a couple of seconds and it opened. He pulled the door open and instantly dropped down. He and Rain had redone the tunnel, so only little children could get through, Soot crawled forward, and using his foot managed to mostly shut the door. He advanced another couple of meters, before switching to his other form and racing down the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel there was a deep dark hole, Soot jumped into it without hesitating and landed on a soft mattress, switching back to human form, he rolled off and turned on the light. A small cave with many tunnels lit up but most of the tunnels were closed by tightly packed dirt, only 4 remained. Soot took the farthest to the right and ran down it. Soon, he reached another cave, with two mattresses in a corner, pressed together. A couple of books and writing material, there were also two bags. Soot grabbed one and backed out right into Rain, who greeted him with a nod; they darted past each other and Soot, back in the main cave and taking the tunnel to its left, he walked down it and entered the kitchen.

The kitchen was a small round cave with shelves set on the floor. Soot opened his bag and started packing as much dried goods as he could, those that were in boxes he poured out into zip locked bags, before carefully putting them away. That done he walked over to a hole in the ground and pulled two containers of milk, he put them into their appropriate bag and left the kitchen. Rain was waiting for him in the main cave carrying the bag containing their books and cloths. "All done Rainey"?, Soot asked cheerfully, Rain nodded and replied "ready to roll"? Soot swung the bag unto his back and started up the ladder on the side of the entrance, Rain grabbed the book bag and followed; they crawled out of the hole and headed back to the log house. There they set the bags down and Rain ran back to get the milk. Their stuff gathered they headed back towards the clearing.

Meanwhile Fang and Stone were racing deeper into the forest heading towards their base, a deep den under a giant oak. Fang bounded ahead and splashed through a small creek marking the beginning of his territory. Half way through the creek Stone landed on his back and he went under. Switching to their human forms they splashed around a bit before clambering out and jogging the couple of miles to the den. The giant oak were they lived was located in the north sector of the forest. It was really a big tree with large roots reaching out, under one such root was a small hole, and if you were a burrowing wolf pup or a really small boy you could probably fit into that hole. So Fang slipped into the said hole followed shortly by Stone and crawled into their den. It was sort of like a normal wolf den but in one corner was a pile of books and a canvas bag. Stone grabbed them and ran back out the tunnel, Fang glanced around once sighed and followed him.

Petal and Flower were walking through Konoha hand in hand, talking quietly. "It seems like fun" Flower was saying "and a million times better then living in a dump", Petal nodded slowly "but those boys don't look very nice". Flower shrugged and stopping in front of the rundown house they called home, "would you rather live here for the rest of your life or, live with people your own age and who are giving you a second chance at life". Petal shrugged again and muttered "'suppose so". "let's go then" Flower insisted "after all there's nothing that we need in there". Petal nodded and walked away, Flower jogged hastily after her. The two girls made their way back to the clearing, to wait for their destiny.

In the meantime Saggis was heading towards the Academy. It was a pretty big building, in the east sector of the forest deep in Oni territory. The building itself was rather old and made with red brick, it contained three floors. The basement held the kitchen, a dining room, a game room and a weight room. The second floor held classrooms and a martial arts room. The third floor was intended for bedrooms; Saggis unlocked the door and bounded down the wooden stairs to the basement. A couple of them cracked ominously and he made a mental note to fix them later. He walked down the hallway and entered the kitchen; it was a square room with numerous cupboards and an old refrigerator humming loudly in the corner. In another corner was an old stone bin built into the wall. Saggis opened the refrigerator and pulling the meat packets out of his shirt he pushed them in. then he started a fire in the grate and set a large marmite to boil, checking his watch he pulled out a cutting board and proceeded to chop carrots with a long knife taken from one of the floor cupboards.

After the carrots he cut up broccoli and dropped them in the pot. Once the veggies had started steaming Saggis took the meat out of the fridge and set it up to thaw. Around that time an hour and a half had passed. Saggis left the kitchen and bounded back up the stairs and onto the main floor; he opened a window and jumping out headed towards the clearing.

Soot purred in his sleep Rain's ear from his position on his brother's shoulder and muttered nonsense about stupid wolves. Rain snickered softly and rounding the last tree came upon the clearing. Saggis was already there of course, laying stomach up, on the fallen tree trunk. With his arm carelessly tossed over his eyes he appeared to be sleeping. Rain walked over silently, intending to sit nearby but out of sight when Soot woke up, stretched and launched himself off Rain's shoulder right unto Saggis' face. Rain cussed and leaped after his idiotic brother, as per normal when one receives cat claws in the face, one sits up immediately and starts knocking at ones face. Well Saggis isn't normal, Rain thought wide eyed, as the latter lazily picked Soot off his face and tossed him at Rain before sitting up and rubbing at the scratches on his face. Rain holding Soot to his chest bowed deeply saying "sorry, sorry sir." Saggis waved him off and standing up glanced around probably looking for the others.

Rain hesitantly sat down on the log to wait and watched his new boss stretch, nervously stroking Soot's fur who did not seem at all to be feeling guilty about jumping on said boss's face. "Umm"… the little boy asked, waiting for Saggis to turn around and glance at him before continuing, "how old are you"?

Saggis cocked his head to the side considering the best answer; he could tell Rain his true age and scare the kid or give him something closer to his own age. "I'm 20" he started to say, when Fang announced "he's over 100" from behind him. Saggis spun around and saw Stone in his wolf form walking towards them. Fang was sitting on his back, reading a book.

Just as they were reaching them, Petal and Flower burst out of the trees laughing and each carrying two pots of honey. Saggis decided to concentrate on them and asked curiously "what's up"? The two girls reached them and setting down their burdens, bent over panting. "Well"? Saggis repeated reminding himself to be patient that they were little but his nose was telling him that there was a group of angry men approaching. Petal straitened up after picking up her pots explained, "well we didn't have anything to contribute so we went and got some honey instead". "So that's why there's a group of pretty angry men heading this way"? Flower winced and answered "aww… that might be why"? Saggis' groaned and reaching up ground his knuckles into his forehead before announcing, "alright change of plans". "The 6 of you are going to go follow that path, he pointed to a barely visable path behind the fallen log and I'm going to go chase away these guys". He looked so thoroughly annoyed that Rain offered to help, in that adorable sweet way of his. Saggis shook his head and answered d"on't worry I won't be long, but in the future don't steal from merchants who are used to the forest".

The children glanced at each other hesitantly, before making their way towards the hidden path. When Saggistarius waved a hand at them. Rain glancing back at him ounce more before jogging to catch up with Soot who had bounded off ahead. Saggis watched them till they disappeared from sight before reverting to a more childish form. That done he pulled out of his satchel a long red and black cloak and after adorning it headed off towards the men.

"Are you sure we should have left him"? Rain asked Stone, in his opinion the more sensible of the wolves. The gray haired beast glanced at him before rolling his shoulders, and giving off a rather large yawn, glanced behind them. Petal and Flower were keeping up with them relatively well, even though they seemed out of breath. "Should we take a breather for them", Rain asked Stone again, but before the older boy could answer Soot came jogging back. "There's a river just ahead" he announced "and no way to cross". Fang lifted his head from his book and after carefully putting it away asked "are you sure"? Soot sent him a scathing look and snapped "go look for yourself if you don't believe me". Fang was about to slid off of Stone's back when a rifle went off behind them. The 6 children glanced at each other and started running towards the river. Soot, Stone and Fang easily took the lead because of their animal forms and Rain wasn't too far behind when Petal caught her foot in a root and went sprawling. Flower and Rain stopped instantly running back to her while the other three boys slowed down and waited.

"Ouchy, ouchy" Petal muttered, "I think I twisted it". "Can you stand"? Rain asked worriedly "that's the most important right now". Carefully Flower helped Petal up but when the young girl put pressure on her foot, she hollered and almost collapsed. Rain hastily caught her and glancing at the other three asked "can one of you carry her"? Soot back to normal, shook his head as he realized what his brother meant and answered "nope I'm a cat that's too small". Switching back to human form Fang sat on a tree root announcing "no way"! Stone did the same before shrugging and explaining "he's still a cub so I guess that means I'll carry you". "What do you mean cub"? Flower asked "there's only one year between the two of you". Stone glanced at her before explaining, "In wolves that year makes all the differences, I already have the size of a teenager while Fang's still in the form of a pup".

He transformed again and walked over, Flower and Rain helped her onto Stone's back and she wrapped her fingers into his scruff. And so they set off again but at a much slower pace. Not long after they reached the said river and after inspecting its banks decided to wait for Saggistarius. Rain stood near the edge pensively calculating the distance and trying to ignore the growls from behind him when a ball of fur slammed into his back and knocked him cleanly into the river along with itself. The water was absolutely freezing.

Way back at the clearing a group of angry men were running terrified for their lives after hearing the terrifying tale of an Oni that ruled these forests from the mouth of a little boy. The said little boy was bent over choking up with laughter as he watched them disappear from the safety of a tree. Saggis jumped down and lazily returning to his original form put his cloak away headed off after the children.

Fang broke the surface of the water coughing angrily and automatically glanced around. He was in the middle of the river and heading rapidly away from his "friends", also Rain was nowhere to be found. Fang dove under and opening his eyes in the abnormaly clear water looked around. There a dark form was floating towards him; Fang floundered towards it or at least tried to stay in place. He was so concentrated that he didn't even feel the change in the water until he was slammed roughly into a boulder. His head slammed backwards and he hollered in pain choking on water, his vision was blacking out but the force of the water was keeping him pinned. Fang blinked his eyes trying to say conscious but the pain was quickly overpowering him, he was considering changing forms when the flow pulled him away from the boulder. Naturally Fang blacked out.

A soft breath brushed his face and a hand roughly hit his chest, Fang tried to blink but his eyelids felt suck. He lifted a hand to rub at them but nothing seemed to react, Fang tried once again to open his eyes and this time they did and he got a face full of Rain. The younger boy was practically sitting on top of him and he gave a delighted shout when Fang opened his eyes, yelling "Soot, Stone he's awake"! The other two boys scrambled over and Fang spotted the relief in both of their eyes but Soot rapidly cleared his face and started yelling "what the hell were you thinking, knocking Rain into the water like that, he could have gotten pneumonia"!

Fang gaped up at him before hollering "look who's talking you're the one who knocked us into the water in the first place"! "And" Stone said quietly "he's the one who pulled you out". Fang blinked and looked more closely at Soot; it was true the younger boy was soaking just as much as he was. Fang turned an accusing glare on Stone, and the latter answered the unspoken question, "I was carrying Petal on my back". Fang huffed and shoved Rain of his chest before carefully inspecting his ribs; they hurt like heck but didn't feel broken. He slowly sat up and Stone shifted behind him to support him. Just then a voice called out from behind them, "you do realize that even though it's summer this is not the place to be takin' an ice cold bath, right"?

The 6 children spun around or in Fang's case gingerly turned his aching head. Sagittarius was just stepping out from under the trees, and lazily arched an eyebrow at them. "Well" he drawled "whose brilliant idea was this"? Fang and Soot snarled at the same time while pointing at each other, "his!" Saggis merely glanced at them before focusing on Rain. The young boy paled slightly under the stern gaze and hastily stuttered out what had happened. The teenager rolled his eyes and ordered "everyone up we still have a thirty minute jog till the dorms". "But were freezing!" Soot protested. "Running will warm you up", the brown haired teen retorted. "Petal twisted her ankle" Stone interrupted quietly. Saggis huffed and twisted slightly to look at the little girl; "fine" he growled "I'll carry her". He stalked over to the little girl offering her his back carefully lifted her up. He was just walking away when Stone asked again and just as quietly "what about Fang"? Saggis grunted and snapped over his shoulder "he can run"!

He stalked off and Flower hastily jogged after him. The boys exchanged glances before Stone murmured "I'll carry you but it's gonna hurt". Fang nodded slightly and while Rain supported the injured boy he transformed. That done they carefully positioned Fang on Stone's back and started after the Captain. Soot once again a cat, they kept up a steady jog rapidly catching up with the other three. To his credit Fang didn't make a sound. Eventually they left the forest and stopped in front of a large field or clearing actually 'cause he could see the forest on the other side Fang thought. In the distance they spotted a big red building. Saggis started off again and they trotted after him. In less time then Fang found himself thinking it would, they reached it. The building was indeed huge at least three stories tall with plenty of windows and a balcony.

Rain watched as Saggis released one of Petals legs to pull a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Saggis stepped aside and motioned the children in. Rain did so hesitantly and the others followed. But once they where through the door Rain found himself stopping and gasping. They were in a large hall, supported by wooden beams and aerated by large windows near the roof. There were many doors and a large staircase spiraling up in one corner. The door thumped closed behind them and he couldn't help but jump slightly. Saggis walked around in front of them and said "I'm going to show you your rooms so we can have dinner then I'll give you a tour. Do try not to get lost".

The five of them scampered after him as he began to mount the stairs, and Stone found himself wondering just how long Saggis had lived here and with whom? He was about to catch up with the captain when Fang tugged on his ear and he remembered suddenly that he was in wolf form. After climbing three sets of stairs which left his legs and paws aching horrendously they set foot in a long hallway bordered by numerous doors. Saggis pointed to the left and ordered, "boys side" and then to the right "girl's side, am I clear"? They nodded and Saggis showed them the rooms. Starting with the right, Stone reverting to human form once Fang decided to get off and stuck his head into the first one. It was fairly big with two desks, a window and a bunk bed. Against the far wall where two dressers, the room itself was a light purple in color.

The other two rooms where the same but one was blue, the other green and each only had one set of everything. One of the beds had curtains while the other room looked like the walls had been recently repainted. After that came the bathroom, it was simple, with a toilet, sink, mirror and bath. On the boy's side there were also three rooms but each contained bunk beds and the walls where white. Fang made his way slowly towards the one in the middle, it had a black door when Soot darted in front of him yelling, "I want this one"! Fang gave a low growl and would have punched him but for Rain who was looking at one that had blue spirals on its door and hollered after his twin. Soot released the door knob and bounded over. Fang nodded slightly at Rain and with Stone on his heels entered the room that for who knew how many years, maybe forever would be his, he thought bitterly.

Stone rested a comforting hand on his shoulder before moving off to drop his bag on the lower bunk. Fang huffed and growled ill-mannerly "won't you take the top". Stone glanced over at him and answered with an amused tilt to his voice "so you can complain later when you're healed, I think not". Fang grumped at him and stalked out of the room, Stone laughing gently, followed.

…TBC…

In the next chapter, the children spend their first week at the Academy and Rain gets up close and personal with Saggis.

_The three children were heading towards the staircase when Soot's clear voice hollered out from behind them, ordering them to move._


End file.
